Light-emitting device (“LED”) arrays are currently available that generally provide higher performance than traditional bulbs and other LED products used in lamps and luminaires and provide compact and cost-effective solid-state lighting solutions to serve the general lighting market. These products combine the higher efficiency, lifetime, and reliability benefits of LEDs with the light output levels of many conventional light sources.
LED arrays currently available are made by individually attaching separate and independent light-emitting diode chips on a substrate with a printed circuit board that is then attached to a separate heat sink. Each LED chip is individually separated, picked up, and then placed in its appropriate position. This is a time-consuming process that increases the likelihood of failure of the LED's and the LED arrays.
Further, even though the chips are individualized and placed separately on the arrays, the individual chips cannot be independently checked after removal from the wafer and placement within the array. Thus, after attachment, the likelihood of failure of a single LED can be high when as many as 16, 32 or 64 LEDs are placed in the array. In such embodiments, a single bad LED can cause the whole array to be scrapped or discarded. Thus, the reliability in the cutting, separating, and placing of the LEDs in the arrays has been a concern and has caused an increase in manufacturing costs.